Specifically, we were interested in the following questions: (1) does the level of damage by Black Bears differ between male and female Black Cottonwood trees; (2) does the size of the Black Cottonwood tree affect the level of catkin and seed pod harvest by Black Bears; (3) what is the potential nutrient value of male and female Black Cottonwood catkins and of seed pods; and (4) what is the nutritional composition of Black Cottonwood catkins and seed pods compared to some other potential plant foods that are present in the area in spring, namely male catkins of Sitka Alder (Alnus viridis sinuata), which apparently are not eaten, and stem-bases of Northern Ground Cone (Boschniakia rossi), which are frequently eaten?

While the trees will extend the seasons with the catkins and early flowers, we have in addition planted a number of species for the colours and textures of their bark such as the Himalayan birch with its strikingly white trunk.

To control for slight size differences among branches, we calculated the proportion of long shoots and female catkins from the total number of shoots in the branches (total shoot number = number of vegetative short shoots + number of short shoots bearing female catkins + number of long shoots).

The three most common members of the family, hazel, birch and alder, are all in flower, male catkins dangling and dancing in the slightest breeze, and tiny female flowers, green on birch, red on alder and hazel, await the wind blown pollen which turns them into cones on birches and alders and nuts on hazels.

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